Silverpeak Launches Real Estate Lending Platform

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Silverpeak Real Estate Partners ("Silverpeak") today announced the formation of a commercial real estate lending business that will originate loans on multifamily and commercial real estate across the United States. The new business, Silverpeak Real Estate Finance, will be backed with commitments from Silverpeak and Elliott Management Corporation ("Elliott"), each of which have significant commercial real estate capital markets experience. Silverpeak Real Estate Finance is a natural extension of Silverpeak's equity investment business and will allow the firm to provide real estate sponsors with solutions across the capital stack from first mortgages through equity.

Mark Walsh will serve as Chairman and the company will be led by Douglas Tiesi as Chief Executive Officer and Peter Tzelios as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Walsh, a 25-year industry veteran, is a co-founder of Silverpeak and was previously the Head of Lehman Brothers' Global Real Estate business. Mr. Tiesi, a 20-year industry veteran, most recently served as Managing Director and head of the U.S. Commercial Real Estate Business at The Royal Bank of Scotland ("RBS"). Mr. Tiesi previously led the European real estate finance business for RBS, ABN Amro and Credit Suisse. Mr. Tzelios most recently served as a principal of Full Stack Capital, a commercial real estate lending and investment firm; prior to Full Stack, Mr. Tzelios held senior leadership positions at Eurohypo AG and GE Capital Real Estate.

Silverpeak Real Estate Finance will originate commercial real estate loans throughout the United States with a focus on office, hotel, retail, industrial and multifamily assets. The platform will deliver flexible debt solutions with speed and certainty to real estate borrowers nationally. The company will be staffed with experienced real estate lending and capital markets professionals located in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas.

About Silverpeak

Silverpeak Real Estate Partners is a privately held investment and advisory business led by Mark Walsh and Brett Bossung. The firm currently manages more than $12 billion of real estate assets on behalf of its clients through co-mingled funds and separate accounts and maintains offices in New York, Atlanta and London. In the last three years, the firm has invested in over 40 distinct transactions throughout the United States, with a total gross real estate value over $2 billion.

About Elliott

Elliott was founded in 1977 and now has more than $22 billion in assets under management, with headquarters in New York and affiliated offices in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Continuously managed by Paul Singer since its inception, the firm has a proven track record of stability; Jon Pollock, co-CIO of Elliott, has a 24-year career at the firm. Elliott has earned a compounded annual return of approximately 14% since inception, and has registered a calendar year loss only twice in 36 years of existence. Since 2009, Elliott has invested more than $2 billion in direct CRE-related securities spread across the United States, Europe and Asia, in addition to significant investments in CMBS and other CRE positions.